The inspection took place last November with the trust being only the fourth organisation to receive the ‘outstanding’ rating.

The trust’s new emergency care hospital at Cramlington and three main general hospitals, including North Tyneside’ were all rated ‘outstanding’, as was community services and services provided for children, young people and families in the community.

In total, the CQC rated 20 core services as ‘outstanding’.

Some areas were identified as needing improvement, including a clinical strategy for a national maternity review, improvements to the storage of emergency drugs and improving the entrance and exit to the new Birthing Centre.

David Evans, trust chief executive, said: “We are immensely proud to receive such positive recognition from the CQC.

“I would like to thank each and every member of staff for the commitment they show, every single day, to provide high quality patient care.

“As always, we must now look to the future so that we can continue to build on our successes to date and push the boundaries of excellence in everything we do.

“We will continue to listen to our staff, patients and the public so we can improve the quality of care we provide.”